The celebrity-backed tequila market is getting a little crowded this year: following Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and singer Nick Jonas launching tequila brands, Michael Jordan wants a piece of the action with Cincoro Tequila.
Jordan and some of his "friendly professional basketball rivals" have joined together to launch the super-premium tequila brand.
In July 2016, Jeanie Buss of Los Angeles, Wes Edens of Milwaukee, Emilia Fazzalari and Wyc Grousbeck of Boston and Jordan of Charlotte, met for dinner. They started sharing stories and discovering a mutual love of tequila. The group quickly formed the foundation of a partnership to create a new style of tequila that was smooth on the palate, rich and complex in flavor, with a long luxurious finish.
"We set out to create a sipping tequila that is ultra-smooth, naturally rich, complex and delicious; a tequila with exceptional taste," explained Fazzalari, Chief Executive Officer and Founding Partner of Cinco Spirits. "
Each expression is made with the highest quality 100% Weber Blue agave from private farms in both the highland and lowland regions of Jalisco, Mexico. The agave is hand-selected, slow-cooked and distilled in separate small batches, creating two distinct distillates, which are then blended to create Cincoro Blanco, one of four Cincoro expressions.
The Reposado, Añejo and Extra Añejo expressions are barrel-aged in an underground cellar to maximize flavor and complexity. The signature Cincoro taste profile highlights the terroir of the agave, and each expression is a one-of-a-kind tequila experience that the creators say is "akin to a single malt scotch, American craft bourbon or fine wine".
To complement the tequila, the team commissioned Mark Smith, Vice President of Innovation Special Projects at Nike, to design the bottle, packaging and brand identity system.
The sleek, contemporary and unique bottle is a glass sculpture of the agave leaf that highlights the liquid with a five-sided base, showcasing the Cincoro Fire Agave icon in the punt at a 23-degree angle, topped with a king's crown crystal stopper. The name Cincoro, translating to "five gold" in Spanish ("cinco" meaning five, "oro" meaning gold), pays homage to the five founding partners and their pursuit to create the gold standard in tequila.
Prior to the brand launch, Cincoro Tequilas have already won 16 medals across the portfolio at prestigious spirits competitions including a "Double Gold" for Cincoro Reposado at the 2019 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
The United States consumes more tequila than any other nation, at about 18.3 million cases last year, or 56% of global consumption, according to consultancy IWSR Drinks Market Analysis.
The ultra-premium side of the American tequila market (where the starting price is $US45 a bottle) is also growing fast—a 19% increase each year since 2013.
There's also high investor demand for celebrity-backed brands. Casamigos — founded by George Clooney and Rande Gerber in 2013— sold to Diageo for $1 billion in 2017, a deal valued at 20 times revenue.
Other celebrities in the tequila business include Charlie Sheen, who became part-owner of Don Sueños tequila earlier this year, plus Chris Noth, Justin Timberlake and P Diddy.
Breaking Bad stars Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston also announced the launch of their new artisanal mezcal brand Dos Hombres.
Cincoro Tequila is one of the most expensive tequila brands sold today. Its añjeo retails for $US130, a higher-priced alternative to Don Julio 1942 (at $US120). And Jordan’s favorite in the new line, Cincoro’s Extra Añjeo, is $US1600 a bottle.
Cincoro Tequila will be available in 12 markets at launch, before expanding nationally in the US.
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